This invention relates to a medical device and more particularly to an endoscope having a conductive mechanical component that can perform a mechanical function and also conduct an electrical signal and/or electrical power.
Endoscopes have applications in a wide variety of medical procedures. For example, one such procedure is directed to insertion of an endoscope into a body lumen of a patient to obtain images of a gastrointestinal system. A variety of different types of endoscopes have various functionality. For example, some endoscopes can be used to image body lumens and some endoscopes can be used to view a body lumen. Some endoscopes that provide multiple functions can often require multiple components that are each related to a different function from a set of multiple functions. Such endoscopes can be large (e.g., large outer diameter) preventing use in some applications. For example, some body lumens, such as a ureter, can only receive a very small diameter endoscope.
A need exists for an endoscope having one or more components that can perform multiple functions, reducing the number of components needed to operate the endoscope.